Money is a difficult topic for many salespeople to handle with a prospect.  Some salespeople buckle and collapse with large discounts while others simply avoid the topic as long as possible.  As a sales manager, there are few things as uncomfortable as watching one of your salespeople crash and burn when qualifying money.

Lee Salz offers a good article on Salesopedia covering this topic.  Salz cuts right to the bone on why this topic is so critical:

If you don’t believe you are providing a fair, competitive price for the solution, my question is why are you presenting it anyway? One would hope that you have integrity so why present something you don’t believe in?

Some responses that cause you to fail the flinch test.

•    What price were you looking for?

•    I’ll ask my manager if we can do better.

•    How about if I take 10% off?

The reason these are failed responses is that they create trust issues with the prospect. Were you trying to rip them off with the price you presented? One of two things is true. Either you were trying to rip them off or you believe you provided a fair price. What other option is there? Some will say that they were preparing for a negotiation. That’s a fair point; however, it is a terrible negotiation strategy to give the appearance that you will drop your price first moment someone balks. That approach gives the impression that you sought to gouge them.

That is absolutely correct.  The reason why I know this is because I made this mistake when I was a young sales rep.  I lost a very large deal because I buckled under the price discussion.

If you have ever been deer hunting, you know what “buck fever” is.  It is that moment when you have the 12 point buck in your crosshairs but then you start to get shaky, unsteady and unable to pull the trigger.  The thought of getting the trophy buck overwhelms you.

I think many salespeople get “deal fever” when they are about to close a large deal.  Their knees start knocking and they quickly agree to the prospect’s large price reduction.

Here are Salz’s 4 suggestions to avoid deal fever:

1. They set expectations upfront.

2.  They don’t flinch!

3. They seek to understand.

4. They reinforce their position.

Read the entire article to get his expanded description for each of the 4 suggestions.  And may I strongly encourage you to read number 2 closely?

Comments(0)